By Laura Furr Mericas

Over the summer, tapping into the state’s $4.4 billion American Rescue Plan Act allocation, the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) partnered with the Washington Recreation & Park Association (WRPA) and AWC to create a $12 million grant program for local parks and recreation initiatives designed to help youth (ages 4 to 21) reengage with nature—and each other.

“A lot of kids missed the school year again; they missed out on the opportunities to interact with other kids,” says AWC’s Jacob Ewing, a legislative and policy analyst who worked closely with the OSPI on the project. “With parks and rec programs and the ability to get kids outside, it gives them a chance to be kids again.”

Since June 2021, the program (Summer Experiences and Enrichment for Kids, or SEEK) has disbursed $2 million to fund 32 municipal parks and rec initiatives, from Anderson Island (purchasing kayaks and life jackets for kids to use paddling around a community that’s only reachable by ferry) to Seattle (creating career exploration programs for high schoolers who had been cut off from traditional counseling resources). Smaller cities without official parks and rec departments, like DuPont, used SEEK funding to partner with outside providers like the Boys and Girls Club and the YMCA or hire part-time staff to introduce more outdoor programming. Bainbridge Island used $3,400 in SEEK funding to purchase two e-bikes that have been added to the Metro Park & Recreation District’s Gearbank, a public repository of outdoor gear that includes everything from tents and backpacks to mountain bikes and all-terrain wheelchairs, available to locals and visitors for a small rental fee.

“Bainbridge is a small island, and most folks come thinking navigation by bike will be pleasant and easy,” says Sue Barrington, the Active Adult and Arts & Culture Manager for Bainbridge Island. “Because of our very hilly terrain, they quickly find out this is not the case.”

As do island kids, who Barrington hopes will be enticed to take an electric-assisted spin uphill for the first time on the Gearbank’s new e-bikes.

“[Bainbridge Island] was able to quickly start up programs and use these dollars to benefit the youth and kids in their area,” says Ewing. “They got the electric bikes to help make things more inclusive and to make recreation accessible to kids.”

Bainbridge is one of 144 parks and rec programs that have submitted applications for $10 million in SEEK funding that will be awarded in 2022, requesting support for a local marketing campaign that will promote the use of its new SEEK-funded e-bikes and all of the city’s Gearbank amenities.

“It’s finding ways to engage underserved communities in different ways,” adds Ewing. “The trend I’m seeing is that people are looking for new and innovative ways to connect with members of the community that they might not traditionally have reached.”

For more information: wrpatoday.org/seek-fund-details